Before my regular post...
Today is a huge day for news and anniversaries… no matter what your opinion politically, the news from Pakistan was huge and I want to take a moment to say thank you to all the men and women responsible for keeping the USA safe.
I also want to recognize the first anniversary of the Nashville flood and remember those that were affected by the raging waters. The volunteer spirit was on full display during this event, I have never been prouder of my hometown as neighbor helped neighbor and those that weren’t affected pitched in to help those that were, proving that indeed… We ARE Nashville!
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A dedicated group of Pred Nation showed up to welcome the team back from Vancouver yesterday afternoon. A show of pride and emotion that was well appreciated by the team and covered well by the blogosphere.
After traveling on Sunday, the teams will return to the rink to practice today in preparation for Tuesday night’s pivotal game three showdown. I’ve also been told that NHL Studios arrives in town today to get the flavor of how Nashville is getting swept up in playoff fever. If a guy with a camera asks… show ‘em your Predator Pride.
This extra off day should help both teams settle down a bit, and getting out of Vancouver should help the Canucks as they can get away (at least a little) from their hyper-critical media. The interesting thing is that the white-hot spotlight that is normally reserved for Roberto Luongo is now fixed squarely on the Sedin twins, who have gone scoreless in the almost eight periods of hockey in this Western Conference semi-final series.
Tomorrow’s game three has a 8pm CDT start time, I’ll be hosting a party on the Bridgestone Arena plaza starting at 5pm.
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Random Notes
- Smashville is still buzzing over the Predators’ stirring game two comeback win.
- So much for special teams in this series. Both teams power plays are powerless… going a combined 0-15 in the series. The only special team goal was Alex Burrow’s shortie in game two.
- The new “History” commercial featuring Pekka Rinne’s incredible performance in game two is available of NHL.com… good stuff.
- The Detroit Red Wings are getting the goaltending they need, they just can’t seem to solve Sharks netminder Antti Niemi, losing both road games 2-1. The penalty parade is yesterday’s game two was a little crazy. The series resumes Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.
- OK… does anyone else feel like they are living in “Bizarro World” … The Tampa Bay Lightning taking two in Washington and having the Caps on the ropes? Guy Boucher is doing a stellar job with his team, combining youth and experience in the right mixture and getting incredible goaltending from Dwayne Roloson.
- Talk about “Bizzaro World”… all of a sudden the Preds are the darlings of the Globe and Mail? A positive article from David Shoalts??? Of course he had to get some misinformation in there (uhhh David, country music stars have been attending games regularly since the team’s inception, including Mrs. Mike Fisher,
before she was Mrs. Mike Fisher, contact me and I'll supply you a list) and there is an overall tone of wonder at how this team is making it, but it is a fairly sound column.
- Apparently, Elvis was in the building on Saturday night… no not that one… Elvis Costello attended game two with his wife the utterly fabulous jazz pianist/singer Diana Krall.
- Tonight’s playoff schedule – Boston @ Philadelphia – Bruins lead 1-0, 6:30pm CDT (Versus, TSN)
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
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